The Duke of Sussex has apologised to Canada for wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers hat while attending a World Series game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Prince Harry joked that he was “under duress” when he wore the bright blue cap during the epic Game 4 of the World Series in Los Angeles. He thought it was “the polite thing to do” after being invited to the game by the Dodgers’ owner.

His headgear choice upset many in Canada – a Commonwealth nation- who criticised him for not showing his allegiance to the realm, or to the only Canadian team in Major League Baseball.

Prince Harry’s father King Charles is the head of state of Canada and of 13 other Commonwealth realms.

“Firstly, I would like to apologise to Canada for wearing it,” he said in a CTV interview while in the commonwealth this week for Remembrance events. “Secondly, I was under duress. There wasn’t much choice.”

The prince – wearing a Blue Jays hat during the interview – quipped that “when you’re missing a lot of hair on top, and you’re sitting under flood lights, you’ll take any hat that’s available”.

He plans to wear a Blue Jays hat from now on and rooted for the Toronto team in subsequent games, appearing to do so in a clip posted on social media by the Duchess of Sussex – a Los Angeles native – when the Dodgers won the series in Game 7 a few days later.

Prince Harry, who was given a Blue Jays hat while meeting with Canada’s oldest veterans on Thursday, also said that admitting that he is a Toronto fan would likely make his reception in California more difficult.

Nathan Denette /The Canadian Press via AP

Prince Harry received a Toronto Blue Jays hat as he meets with some of Canada’s oldest veterans, joining them in a creative arts program at Sunnybrook Hospital’s veterans centre in Toronto on Thursday.

The prince and his wife, a former actress who lived in Canada while filming her TV drama Suits, moved to California after stepping back as full-time royals in 2020.

The couple’s presence in the Chavez Ravine-set stadium in Los Angeles also disgruntled many Dodgers fans in the US. They took to social media to voice their upset over the couple’s plum front-row seats during the 18-inning game, while local legends such as Magic Johnson and former pitcher Dodgers Sandy Koufax were seated behind them.

Incidentally, Prince Harry published an essay this week about “What it means to be British” ahead of his visits with military veterans in Canada this week.

In it, he said “banter” in pubs and sports grounds and a spirit of good-humoured “self-deprecation” are some of the things that he loves about Britain and what he thinks define British culture.